Deadline to link Aadhaar likely to be extended

Those who have not yet linked their Aadhaar with bank accounts, mobile phones or other services can rest easy as Attorney General KK Venugopal indicated that it was open to extending the looming deadline beyond March 31.

Venugopal's submission came on the heels of the observation that the ongoing matter in the Supreme Court – the constitutional validity of Aadhaar has been challenged - may not reach its logical conclusion by the end of this month.

"We have extended the deadline in the past too. We can do it again. Let's see how the hearing proceeds. If required, we can do it again," Attorney General of India KK Venugopal said, submitting before a constitution bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra.

Earlier in February, a five-judge constitution bench — which also includes Justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, began hearing a batch of petitions that questioned the validity of the Aadhaar Act.

Weeks on, only three lawyers representing the petitioners have completed their submissions. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, who is currently making his submissions, is one of the five more who has yet to conclude. Once the petitioners rest their case, the Centre, UIDAI – the authority in charge of issuing the unique 12-digit biometric identification number, the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat will then respond.